Assembly elections 2017: firstpost sees three times increase in user base on verdict day

MUMBAI: Firstpost, India’s largest and premier digital platform for news, analyses and opinions in its recent activity brought the most in-depth and comprehensive digital coverage for Assembly Elections 2017 on March 11. The month-long election coverage culminated in a live, 6-hour video broadcast, featuring a panel of experts decoding the results from Firstpost’s Delhi studio.

On the day of the verdict, Firstpost English garnered 3.1 million views, which is three times more compared to its otherwise 1 million daily user mark. The desktop version of the website garnered more than a million views, which is twice the figure recorded on other days, while the mobile site garnered 2.2 million views, which is thrice the figure recorded on other days.

Emulating the style of a television newsroom, the digital news platform covered five key states, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, giving an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the elections from a studio set-up. The sister website, Firstpost Hindi, on the other hand witnessed a six times jump in the user base, reaching close to 2,25,000 users. Moreover, the average time spent per user grew twice, compared to other days.

Speaking on the development, BV Rao, Editor Firstpost said, “This is the first time a digital platform has blended its reporting style seamlessly with a television newsroom format. We always look at ways in which we can maximize the value we bring to the table for our readers. We are thankful towards all our partners, panelists and stakeholders for bringing our vision to light. We are ecstatic to garner such an overwhelmingly positive response from all our readers.”

Some of the panelists who lent their expertise include famous British journalist and political commentator Tufail Ahmad, Professor Arvind Mohan, Professor Badari Narayan, and Political analyst Harshwardhan Tripathi among others.